The Backpacker's Guide to Sakaar
by howmoriartystolechristmas
Summary: Kate is an assistant to Stephen Strange, magic and all, and an odd visitor late in the night will set off a series of events that finally give her the sense of adventure she dreamt of. Well, she never dreamt of alien planets, but she'll take that too. Valkyrie x OC
1. Chapter 1: A Strange Beginning

_Hi everyone! I'm back with another story, this time for one of my favourite Marvel movies, Thor: Ragnarok. This will eventually be a Valkyrie x OC story, because I haven't read a single one and it's what that bicon deserves! But for now, let me introduce you to Kate, and get the ball rolling! This begins during the movie, so no lengthy prologuey nonsense._

To say you were an assistant to a magician was kind of embarrassing. But when the magician was literally magic, like orange-glowy-stuff-in-the-air magic? That was pretty neat.

To be fair, Kate couldn't technically tell any of her friends that, but it felt deeply satisfying. To her friends, the Doctor part of Doctor Strange, not to mention the cheekbones of said Doctor, were more relevant than any rabbit tricks.

It was a pretty snoozy job; transit was nothing since she lived on-site, he just kind of floated around most of the time so she hardly ever vacuumed or swept the floors, and she absolutely took advantage of his spells to keep some great food in the pantry.

He paid well, being a former doctor and all, and he was nice enough to chat to.

But, god, was Kate bored. Existentially bored.

When she was 19, fresh out of high school, she had left her friends and family behind to travel the world. Putting all her savings into a one-way ticket to Paris, she lived a romantic, gorgeous, picturesque life for about three weeks before she ran out of money and had to call her parents and beg them to buy her a ticket back.

In a way, finding a job where she could live on-site was a godsend; her parents had never really treated her like an adult since. But sorting artifacts and taking messages was not exactly fulfilling.

Kate had tried everything. She had gone on an exercise-diet craze and put on some muscle. She had cut her hair to chin length, dyed it red, dyed it back to brown immediately, had one-night stands and read Eat, Pray, Love six times.

The exhilarating, albeit childish feeling of adventure crept up on her late at night, whispering promises of something more than _this_.

Sitting in her bedroom in the loft, a ladder away from the rest of her world, she fiddled with a folded-up piece of paper. Her notice of resignation.

It was signed, and dated for three weeks time. A while ago, she had promised herself she would find the joy in this life, or leave. She gave herself six months. It had been over five, and nothing.

Her room was nice; she felt most herself when snuggled among cushions and blankets, earphones shoved as deeply in her ears as possible, staring up at the wooden beams filled with dust and cobwebs. Now she sat at her desk, swinging back and forth on her swivel chair. Thursday afternoons she had off unofficially, as Stephen tended to hole up in his office downstairs, researching magic, both theory and history, late into the night. Several times she had gone to get a drink in the early hours of the morning and seeing a crack of light under the door, only to see him still working away the next morning. She supposed he could just magic-away the tiredness. It was in many ways a good thing that Stephen had been unsuccessful in teaching Kate any spells; she was lazy enough as it is without an instant cure for everything.

A sloshing of water snapped her out of her own thoughts, and she swore as she rushed to the bathroom next-door. The bath, which she had previously planned to take, was now overflowing onto the patterned tile, and creeping steadily toward the old wood floor. She chucked her towel onto the tiles as she ran past and shut the tap off. The towel was drenched immediately, and she shoved her still-clothed arm into the tub and pulled the plug out. As the level slowly receded back to safety, she threw anything absorbent onto the edge of the tiles, grabbing towel after towel from the cupboard.

Crises averted, she slumped down onto the toilet seat and put her face in her hands. She let out a dramatic sigh of relief, and looked through the doorway into her bedroom. The paper was still out on her desk. Maybe if she changed the date?

After somewhat enjoying the bath, she crept downstairs to the laundry, toweling off the ends of her hair with one hand, carrying the wet mass of towels in the other. It was just after 10pm and as usual, the Doctor's office was the only light on, on the floor. The laundry was always cozy because of the central heating system pipes that all connected together on the far wall, but after a hot bath, Kate was more in the mood for some fresh air. She set the towels on for a quick spin, and made her way out to the giant circular window at the front of the second floor. Stephen's office was just down the hall, and the muffled noises of books thumping and pages rustling seemed like he was deep into work.

But then she listened a little longer and realized how rushed the noises seemed. A breakthrough, maybe? He was pretty open about the whole magic society thing, but whatever he was researching, he kept pretty quiet.

She chose to tune it out and instead turned her attention outwards onto the street. Fall was only days away, but already the city had begun to freeze up. The streetlights seemed dimmer, the few pigeons and squirrels still awake were huddling under trees whose leaves were curling up in the cold. Inside, the house never really got all that cold, but the glass fogged up in patches of breath, and her fingers left smudges in the condensation.

Kate jumped, just about banging her head on the windowpane as a door behind her slammed open. She whirled around to see Doctor Strange bounding out of his room in full getup. It was surprisingly not a rare sight to see, although usually the pendant on his chest didn't glow as brightly green as it did now.

He seemed taken aback by her presence, but barely slowed down his stride as he banged down the main stairs. He called out to her, "There's an unfamiliar magic signature two blocks from here, could be dangerous so don't wait up!"

Kate stumbled up and rushed after him. "Should I make some tea?" She stopped as he let out a frustrated huff.

" _Does this seem like the occasion for tea?_ " He yelled out, head falling down out of view as he made it to the landing. She waited, put off, then heard his footsteps stop. "Please do," he said, quieter this time. And again he was off, slamming the heavy front door behind him.

A distant 'ding' rang out as the washing machine cycle finished.

It was not often that Kate found herself in the ground floor kitchen making tea at 1am. Occasionally Stephen would have a late-night meeting due to international time-differences, and she would bring him in a little something, but at least then she knew how things were going to be. This time, she had spent the past two hours boiling the kettle over and over, waiting for Stephen to come home again, preferably in one piece.

She had tentatively set out a third cup for this mysterious sorcerer on the off chance he or she might be friendly.

Pressing down on her eyelids until she saw starbursts, she tried to fight back the relentless yawning.

"Ah, fuck it," Kate whispered to herself, and grabbed the kettle off the stove, pouring her own cup of chamomile. Like hell she was having anything caffeinated.

Just as she leant back against the countertop and breathed in that sweet steam, a bang echoed out, causing her to jump and spill the hot liquid down her right arm. Cursing under her breath, she hurried to set the tea down and run some cold water over her arm. She listened out for signs of violence, but it was totally quiet.

Forgetting the sting on her skin, she curiously padded down the hallway, becoming suddenly aware of her fuzzy socks and Captain America pajamas (which she had bought to annoy Stephen - which they did). Unfortunately, a detour two flights up to her room was out of the question, so she just hoped this wizardly intruder didn't understand any pop culture references.

Shuffling noises in the library led her to Stephen, who was standing in front of the figure. Kate cleared her throat. "Uh, tea, anyone?"

Doctor Strange turned to face her, revealing who stood just past him. Loki.

As in, killed a bunch-load of people, ruined a bunch-load of buildings, fought a bunch-load of superheroes Loki. Definitely a bad guy.

Kate paused, and looked down at herself. Definitely a bad guy that would recognize Captain America's shield pattern on her pants. When she gained the resolve to look up again, he was grinning at her, an eyebrow raised.

Frowning, she turned to Stephen. "Do you want black tea or something herbal?" Now she lowered her voice to a whisper. "I don't give _him_ tea, right? Like, evil people don't get hospitality. I could give him that shitty brand?" A quick glance back at the supervillain revealed he very clearly heard her.

Without waiting to hear Stephen's answer, she rushed out of the room, cheeks as bright as the red on her pajamas.

Whether crazy alien gods liked tea or not, she was still going to give him the shitty expired brand of English Breakfast tea. All the news outlets said he was super manipulative, so Kate decided she had full rights to be a dick right back.

Awkwardly balancing three hot mugs, she rushed back into the library, where she noticed for the first time the heavy enchanted cuffs Doctor Strange must have placed on him. Tea drinking would be difficult with limited mobility. The thought cheered her up, and she set them all down on the coffee table.

Stephen looked at the three mugs, one half-full from an earlier spill, and then back up at Kate. He clearly hadn't anticipated on her staying. She shrugged, and picked up her tea, settling into a lush armchair. If he wanted her to go, he'd have to outright say it. Curiosity would absolutely kill the cat, but this was an opportunity she couldn't resist.

Stephen sighed and turned to Loki. "I'll ask you again, why have you returned here?"

"To put my father in a retirement home," Loki answered smugly.

Kate let out a snort before she could stop it, and tried to hide her smile behind her hand, shoulders shaking slightly. She calmed down enough to gesture at him, _go on_.

He looked at her curiously at turned back to Doctor Strange. "I assure you, I have no intentions of harming your precious planet, I simply aim to provide my father with the care he needs. Asgard needs a new, vitalized ruler." He opened his arms as far as he could, and grinned. Clearly he meant himself.

Kate nodded seriously, "fair enough." Again, both men's attention drew to her. Loki, with a bemused look on his face; Stephen, certainly not amused. "Don't sympathize with the…with the villain, huh? Yeah… Sorry about that."

She quietly sipped her tea, purposefully ignoring eye contact with either one.

"Should you return immediately to Asgard," Doctor Strange carefully began, "and not return here, I won't report you to SHIELD, or the government, or anyone. You have no place here."

Without once touching his tea (understandably so), Loki finally stood up, and held his arms out. "My business here is done, Strange. I will bid you, and your…companion, farewell."

Kate scrunched up her face and drained the last of her cup. She watched silently as Stephen removed the chains and allowed Loki to vanish from sight in a split second. The glow on his pendant dimmed back down to regular levels. "He is gone," Stephen muttered, rubbing his face roughly and heading out of the library.

Kate stayed behind to clean up, only to see something odd inside one of the mugs. It was Loki's cup, still full with the tea he never drank, yet something glinted at the bottom.

She couldn't see it properly, and took the three mugs to the kitchen. After draining his out, a small lump of metal fell onto her palm. It looked somewhat like a coin, but with a narrow hole on one edge, and strange etchings all over.

Suspicious, Kate knew she couldn't keep it. It was clearly one of his tricks, but at the same time, she felt a burst of adrenaline within her. A secret, a mystery, quite possibly something from another planet. The adventure and excitement she had gone to Paris to find had now come right into her own hands.

Rinsing it off, she squeaked her fingertips on it and carefully bit down on it. Whatever it was, it was pretty solid. Could even be expensive.

"Nice," she muttered to herself, slipping it into her pajama pocket before another bout of yawning wracked her.

 _Please let me know what you think! Next chapter Loki will be back and so will our favorite Fabio, Thor!_


	2. Chapter 2: A Norwegian Getaway

_And as usual, I'm riding the wave of motivation and inspiration as long as it will fucking take me. Enjoy._

It had been several months since that odd night. Things had returned to normal - other than the metallic coin in her pocket getting in the wash and breaking one of the pipes, there weren't really any consequences from Loki's visit.

Kate had googled Loki, and found out his father, the one he had mysteriously dropped off, was Odin, the original king of Asgard. Well, technically his dad was an ugly blue guy, but presumably Loki wasn't there to sign up a giant Smurf for elderly care.

There were a good twenty or so old people homes in the larger New York area, and Kate found herself sneaking a few minutes each day to call up on of the ones on her list, asking for an old man (generally unhelpful) who would refer to himself as Odin (surprisingly also unhelpful). There were three different old men in homes who were convinced they were Scandinavian kings. She had visited two of them a few months ago, both were clearly nuts, but the third was in a little home called Shady Acres. This particular man had white hair, kept back in a ponytail, a long beard and a leather eyepatch. He wore a loose fitting linen suit and seemed to do almost nothing but stare out the window. She had taken the subway down to the neighborhood, hoping for the third time lucky, only to meet this man she was convinced was the actual King of Asgard. Odin.

He was surprisingly quiet and soft-spoken; the stories she found online were of massive wars and battles, strong leadership and parenting. None spoke of this gentle man she saw in front of her.

At first she was just curious, but in the past three or four months, she had spent her Saturday afternoons with him, playing cards (he found the rules of each game absurd yet endearing), chatting, and going for walks around the block when the weather permitted it. They grew close, yet not once did he ask who she was or how she knew him. Kate figured he was just happy for the company.

He didn't speak often of his past, or about his sons, though vague remarks here and there made it clear most of the fables and ancient legends she had found online were true.

Last week, they spent the afternoon sitting on a bench outside together. Winter had passed on quicker than usual, and the sun had warmed up the air as much as it had the wood they were sitting on.

Odin had recently found out that week that the building was due to be demolished the coming Tuesday.

"So soon? How come?"

He sighed, squinting up at the clouds glowing in sunlight. "Once you become old, you become nothing. We are all splitting up, you see. Some will go back to their families, but most are simply being transferred to neighboring homes. It is a rather tragic thing, though quite unavoidable."

Kate studied him, trying to gauge his emotional reaction to this. "Where will you go? Back to your family, your old home?" It was a dangerous thing, bringing up Asgard. Sometimes she would cross a line and he would hold silent for the whole afternoon.

But this time he simply shook his head. "Have you seen the cliffs in Norway? They're quite beautiful."

"I've never been. How will you get there?"

Crinkles deepened around his eye as he let out a gentle smile. "I may be old and weakened but I have some tricks yet. I can get there."

Distant beats of adventure began to thump in Kate's ears. "Do you have a house there? Somewhere to stay? I could help book you some accommodation."

The smile remained as he leaned back and shut his eye. "I know of a place. I can see it, in my mind's eye. It's calling to me."

"You'll be alone?"

He said nothing, but the confirmation was clear.

"I could go with you." He opened his eye to look at her, but didn't react otherwise. "I want to make sure you're safe. You shouldn't be alone." _He shouldn't have left you alone_.

His wrinkled yet firm hand clasped around hers. "I would cherish the gift of your company although I understand if you cannot give it. You must have responsibilities. Whatever you do during the rest of the week."

Although it made no sense, and she had no idea how he meant to get all the way to Norway, she knew this was what her life had been waiting for.

She squeezed his hand back. "I'll see what I can do. If I can go with you, I'll come on Monday. You shouldn't be alone," she repeated.

He simply smiled his patient smile at her and patted her hand.

Her mind was still whirring when she rushed into Stephen's office that night when she got home. He looked up, startled, as she held out a piece of paper to him. A resignation letter. This one different than the one she had before, and the date was for today, newly inked.

He furrowed his brow as he read, and glanced up to her with a confused look. "One day's notice? What's going on?"

She had kept him somewhat up to date on Odin. While he disapproved of her spending to much time with the god, she thought he appreciated being able to keep tabs on him at the same time. "They're demolishing the home. He wants to go to Norway. On Monday."

"And?"

"I'm going with him."

"Kate, I-"

"He doesn't have anyone else," Kate interrupted. "Nobody to look after him. He needs _someone_. I know it's not ideal, or convenient, but I'm that someone." She fell silent, unsure of what else to say, waiting for a reaction.

He took his time, thinking it over. Without speaking, he turned to his desk, rifling around in one of the drawers for a tense moment. He pulled out a solid silver band with a faintly glowing green strip going all the way around the inside.

He held it out to her. "At least take this. Then I will know if you're safe, and where in the world you are." She scrunched up her eyebrows and looked at it. "It's a ring," he supplied, again pushing it towards her.

The ring was half the size of his palm. "Uhh…" He huffed and grabbed her right hand. As he pushed the giant hunk of metal towards her fingers, it began shrinking to fit perfectly around her ring finger.

He studied her shocked expression. "I can fly, manipulate time and conjure materials and a shrinking ring has you freaked out?"

"Yeah, but-… Yeah. Huh." She wiggled her fingers, feeling the cool metal snug on her skin. "Okay, I've adjusted. I'm good." She looked back up. "So, you're cool with me following an old guy to Norway?"

He cringed, and shrugged. "I just want you to be safe. How much was my opinion really going to sway you?"

She considered this, then nodded. "Thank you, for this. For everything. When I get back, whenever that is, I'll be sure to stop by."

He smiled ruefully. "Please do."

Packing on the Monday morning was a nightmare, _what the fuck do I pack for Norway?_ , but the call for excitement and adventure was louder than ever. Not knowing if she had to worry about baggage restrictions, she took a relatively small suitcase filled with the necessities. After googling the weather forecast for Norway, and considering her company of an old man alien, she figured comfort would come before fashion. Fleecy leggings and an oversize mustard sweater was the usual getup for a cozy night in, but now it would be for the ultimate night out.

Before she ran out the door, she stopped to look back at her room. Everything was as it always had been; she had no idea how long she'd be gone, so she didn't see the point in packing up.

A glint caught her eye. Sitting on her dresser, cluttered amongst hair ties and bobby pins, was the strange gold coin Loki had left behind.

She hadn't done anything with it the whole time she'd had it, but it came from an Asgardian, and wasn't she now traveling with an Asgardian? She quickly ran over, slipping it into her sweater pocket, and leaving. Possibly for the last time.

Kate had always wanted to travel, but throwing up violently into a Norwegian bush didn't really make the bucket list.

Odin had seemed excited, or as animated as he ever seemed to get, when she arrived, but before she could even say hello, a swirling gold light came around the two of them. The reception of the care home faded away and a rush of black and neon color and gold light rushed past them. Her feet weren't touching anything, yet it didn't feel like falling.

When the insane vortex came to a stop, Kate dizzily stumbled to the ground.

The ground, in this case, was no longer a floral, worn-out carpet smelling of death, but lush grass and soft earth. They were in Norway.

Odin, naturally wasn't bothered, and had wandered off to the edge of the cliffs, presumably to reminisce, or be peaceful, or something, but Kate was too busy evacuating her lunch.

She wobbled away and collapsed onto the grass, rolling onto her back.

Although she had known him for months, this was the first show of magic from him. She counted her lucky stars for the time spent adjusting to magic with Stephen Strange, otherwise vomiting would have been the least of her problems.

But staring up at the open expanse of blue-gray sky calmed her down almost immediately. She had made it.

No more exhaust-fume air, no more angry flurries of pedestrians, no more same-old, same-old. She breathed in deeply, and took some time to just take it all in.

A few moments of peace later, she sat up, brushed herself off, and looked around her. For the first time since their dramatic arrival, she realized her packed suitcase hadn't come with her. Swearing, she hopped up, ignoring the way her stomach lurched, and turned her head wildly, trying to find it lying around somewhere in the grass.

Nothing was there. Odin's silhouette was still by the cliffs. On the opposite side, further down in the valley, was a small cabin. It seemed old, and abandoned, but presumably this was the place he had intended for them to go.

She set off towards Odin, shivering slightly as the sharp breeze cut through the worn wool of her sweater. The sun was low in the sky, and she wanted to ask him about her suitcase before it got too dark.

Just as she reached his side, his head tilting slightly to acknowledge her, a whooshing noise, startlingly familiar, sounded behind her.

She craned her head around, back the way she came, to see the last of a circle of sparks. One of Stephen's portals.

And coming out of it? None other than Loki, and the God of Thunder.

At first she didn't recognize either of them. Thor had his hair back, wearing typical New Yorker getup. Loki was facedown in the grass. When he got up, she saw he was wearing an all-black suit. Neither were ideal looks for actual gods, but she supposed they wanted to fit in when they went to visit Stephen. Or maybe it was another 'mysterious sorceror in town' situation like last time.

"Uhh, Odin?" No reaction. At this point Thor and Loki, still on the ground, had spotted them, so Kate gave an awkward wave.

Although she had met Loki before, she was unsure what to expect of Thor. He was holding a big, ancient-looking knife, so that didn't bode well. Odin began to stand up, still facing outwards. The two brothers eventually arrived beside him, Loki doing a double take at Kate. Odin turned to Thor, began talking to him, and Loki grabbed Kate by the elbow and marched her out of earshot.

Given that their last meeting involved the offering of bad tea, Kate felt distinctly uncomfortable at this turn of events. "Did Doctor Strange send you here?"

He bristled at the name. "Yes, your doctor certainly could learn some hospitality."

"He's my boss, not my…"

"Why are you here, with Odin?"

Kate made a face as close to a smile as she could, while she thought of a decent reason. "We're friends?"

"Friends?"

"Best friends, actually. We're like this," she twisted her fingers together and he rolled his eyes.

"This is no laughing matter, child."

Kate widened her eyes. "Geez, calm down. What are you two doing here? Odin and me just decided to take a vacay, as friends do."

Loki huffed and walked over to where Thor and Odin were speaking quietly. It seemed they were having a moment, so with a sigh Kate headed off towards the distant cabin.

Halfway there, she turned back to see if they were still deep in conversation, only to see Odin light up in gold, pieces floating away until there was a gap between the two brothers. Her mouth dropped open and tears sprung to her eyes. She stopped her trek, taking a moment for herself. She had come to Norway, lost her suitcase and now her traveling companion, and had no belongings to speak of. Although the sun was slowly beginning to set, she had no idea what time it was in Norway, or how long she'd been gone since that Monday morning that felt an eternity away.

From fifty feet away she could sense the tension between Thor and Loki, so she turned back and slowly began walking toward the cabin, now only a minute or two away.

The wind blew loudly in her ears, and the sky darkened. She looked up as tiny spits of rain began falling, and clutched her arms around herself, walking faster.

The cabin seemed decades old, with the wood on the outside growing moss and lichen, yet through the open doorway she could see the inside seemed fairly well-kept. Ducking to get through the short doorway, Kate collapsed down on a small single bed; the only furniture in the room bar an empty table. She jumped as a bang of thunder cracked outside. It seemed like good timing to her that she had arrived just as the weather was turning.

Then a low rumble sounded out across the fields, unlike the belt of thunder that came before. Confused, and a little concerned for her safety, she sat up, only to catch a glimpse of bright green. She ran to the doorway and glanced out.

"What…the fuck." A mass of black and green light was growing in the air in front of Thor and Loki, who had seemingly taken the time to change clothes, though where they got them from, she wouldn't know. The black grew, and faded away, and Kate could see a woman had appeared on the other side.

Warily, she ducked back into the house, looking through a dirty window instead. It was a figure almost all in black and dark green, with long black hair swaying in the wind. The three of them were speaking, not fighting, so Kate thought maybe it would be best to approach them, see if she could go home. The idea of adventure was beginning to taste a little sour, and she missed the cozy warm laundry room, the expansive library, the _tea_ she had taken for granted back in New York.

Kate huffed, and set off through the long grass for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Although the three figures by the cliffs seemed tense, they definitely didn't seem overly aggressive, and Kate hurried over a little faster. Neither of them had noticed her yet, and-

Kate came to a halting stop. The woman in black had pulled a knife. Out of nowhere. And it looked super sharp.

She watched in apprehension as Thor lifted his hammer and launched it at the woman. Making an unsure whine, Kate started to crouch in the grass. Maybe coming out here wasn't such a great idea. She turned to see how far she was to the cabin. Probably running would get her noticed, but she couldn't stay out here.

A metallic whirring drew her attention back, as she saw the woman - clearly a foe and not a friend - had latched on to the hammer and was beginning to crush it in her bare hands. Blue light was seeping from the cracks, and Kate sensed the time for subtlety was up. She launched into a mad sprint towards the cabin, and had almost reached the open, inviting door when a booming crash rang in her ears and a rush of air shoved her, flying, into the cabin wall.

The last thing she remembered was flailing her arms in front of her as the wood came closer and closer, and then nothing.


	3. Chapter 3: A Rocky Nurse

A deafening silence. The rustle of dry grass, the whistling of wind on the rocks, only sounds of isolation and absence greeted Kate when she came to.

There was no Odin. There was no Loki, no Thor, no strange leotard-ed lady. Just Kate and the vast expanse of Norway around her. As she sat up, a spike of pain rushed through her bones, stemming from her right hand. She couldn't move her pointer finger and the bone in her hand had an odd bulge to it. She moaned, and carefully held it still and close to her stomach. Looking down on it, she noticed for the first time since he had given it to her, the ring on her finger. Although it seemed too tight to go back over her knuckle, delicately tugging at it caused the solid metal to become fluid and stretchy; it came off into her palm easily, growing back to its originally excessive size.

She sniffed, looked around as if someone would be there to judge her, and stared at the hunk of metal, green glow still running around the inside. "Hey, Stephen?" she whispered, feeling like an idiot, yet desperate enough to do it anyway. "Can you hear me? Like, how does this thing work? Fuck, I should've asked you that before I came to fucking Norway."

Kate sighed and gingerly leant back against the wood of the outside wall. "If you can somehow hear me through this thing, I need help. Come get me please. I promise this is the last time I'm going to…" She huffed and fought the sting of tears in her eyes. Studying the ring and its ethereal green glow for a minute, she waited for a sign. Anything to let her know it was somehow doing its job. But nothing.

The sun was well below the horizon now, and a wave of chill spread across the open plains, causing Kate to reluctantly stand up enough to get inside and on the rusted bed. Sitting the oversized ring on the bedspread, she waited for what seemed like hours. Eventually the stars came out, brilliantly white against the open expanse of black, but even their gorgeous sight couldn't stop one sob from becoming an uncontrollable stream of tears and snot.

With her hand aching and swelling, the skin at the lump slowly turning black and blue, she held it up against her chest, delicately maneuvering it into a comfortable position. She winced when her finger brushed up against something solid and worsened the pain. Frowning, she felt around with her good left hand, until she pulled out of her pocket a small round disc of gold. A bubble of incredulous laughter came out before she could stop it, and she held it up close to her face, studying it as best she could in the moonlight.

The symbols were definitely alien, probably Asgardian, and although she had never noticed during the day, a symbol in the very center, what looked like a triangle with an asterisk inside, gave off a pulsating glow in the crevices of the engraving. Feeling hopeless and slightly crazy, she gripped it in her good hand.  
"Can _you_ take me to Doctor Strange? Can you take me to anyone?" She sighed heavily at the lack of response, and bit on her lip to stop it trembling. "Even Loki. God, at this point, I'd be grateful if you could take me to Loki-"

The moment her lips formed his name, a blinding light shot out from the central symbol of the coin. Swearing, she clenched her eyes shut, desperately clutching onto the coin as it began to burn hot in her hands.

The squishy mattress beneath her suddenly felt solid, and just as the heat in her palm became unbearable, it stopped.

Although it was still brighter than before, she could bear it, and Kate tentatively opened her eyes.

There, in front of her, sat Thor.

Simultaneously both of them sat up straight to stare at the other.

For a moment nothing was said. Thor took in her bruising hand, the coin she had finally let go of, most likely the tears and snot on her face, and she stared wildly around at the hallway she was in.

It seemed rounded, so she couldn't make out anything at either end until it curved out of sight, and the walls had strangely geometric and runic graffiti on them. The floor was dirty and covered in bits of trash and rubble.

"Wha… Where exactly am I?"

She turned her gaze back to Thor, who had picked up the coin, studying it intensely. "A transporter beacon. It sends you within mile's radius of the owner. How did you get this?"

"Uh. When Loki dropped his dad off, my boss picked him up and…" Thor wasn't following. "I happened to meet Loki and he left this behind." She frowned at him. "Who was that lady? After your hammer was… I got knocked out and didn't see where you guys went. What's going on?"

A mirthless smile crept over his face as he launched the coin down the hall. "Our sister. Hela. Odin kept her a secret from us, and it was only his being alive that kept her from returning. Now she is here, and wants to rule Asgard and bring Ragnarok."

Ragnarok sounded ominous, but Kate's mind was focused elsewhere. "So, Odin, he's…"

"Dead."

She sighed and attempted to clear some of the gunk away from her face with her sweater. Thor continued to watch her. "What is your place in all this?" She furrowed her eyebrows, and he elaborated. "You are given a transporter from Loki, you were close to our father, and now you are here. I would like to know why."

Kate nodded weakly and slumped further down the wall. "Do we have time?"

"Nothing but."

"Okay. Yeah, okay. Well, Stephen Strange is my boss."

There they sat for the next half an hour, uninterrupted as Kate dictated her life for the past six months. Thor was mostly quiet, only interjecting to ask about his father, how he was, if he was happy.

Once Kate had recounted up until her current predicament, he began filling her in on the past day or so he had been on Sakaar, and what it was like. Kate wasn't nearly as quiet as Thor was for her, stopping every two seconds to ask more about the planet, the people, the fights.

Once he was done, she found herself struggling to keep her eyes open. "So, what, we just sleep here? On the floor?"

Thor shrugged. Maybe he didn't really get tired, but Kate was exhausted, and all she longed for was for her hand to stop hurting and for all of it to go away, even if only for a little while. She sighed, and huddled on her side, willing sleep to come quickly.

When a bright light interrupted her sweet unconsciousness, it took Kate a moment to realize she was no longer in the hall. The surface beneath her was cushioned, bedlike, and for a moment the shock of waking some somewhere unfamiliar again left her collapsing down upon it again. Muffled voices spoke back and forth above her, and as her senses came back, she noticed the throbbing in her right hand had gone away completely. She shifted, squinted her eyes open and tried to sit up, only to have her hands tugged back by two metal bands fastened around her wrists. She panicked, and began thrashing, desperately trying to slip out her hands.

Within a moment, they came out easily. The bands were far too large to propose any serious obstacle. Rubbing her wrists, she sat up and took in the world around her.

It was clearly an infirmary, albeit an alien one. While the décor was strangely colorful and camp, the same old cleaner smell and uniform squeaky beds filled the room. Apart from a giant pile of rocks, which Kate was too far gone to question, the only other presence in the room was a tall man in gold, red and blue robes, with fluffed-up hair and a gold stripe down his chin. He seemed just about weird enough to be the ruler of this odd place, and she tried to recall what it was exactly Thor said the leader was called.

He wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Most of our contenders have much larger hands. You know what they say about large hands…" He looked at her suggestively.

Kate felt somehow the comment was directed more at the muscly competitors than her, but responded anyway, inspecting her own hands. "I guess that means I have a small dick?" He seemed to enjoy the comment, but she couldn't shake a feeling of wrongness. "Contenders? I can't fight. I'd die immediately and there'd be no fun in that."

Godfather? Gentleman? Headmaster? Kate couldn't remember his title, and he was moving closer to stand right beside the bed she was on.

"What skills _do_ you have then? Hmm?"

Kate's mind went blank. "Uhh…knitting? I'm good at uno, one time I watched all the Hobbit movies with no breaks. I, uh, don't know how that's useful to you guys, but…" A silence fell the room as she tried to come up with something more impressive. "I did bartending as a summer job once?"

That got a reaction. "Well, then, hows-abouts we find you a bar to tend, huh? We've got a competition tonight, your handsome devil of a friend is going up against my best competitor. How _did_ you come to know the Lord of Thunder? Give me _all_ the gory details."

Kate just about felt whiplash with the twists and turns this conversation was going. Grandmaster? "Grandmaster," she tested, "I'm not exactly sure what's going on here. Is Loki here too?"

Kate decided immediately that last comment was a mistake. He had his full attention on her. "Maybe. Long, black hair, gorgeous cheekbones, and dashing blue-green eyes? Rings a bell." A knock at the door caught his attention and he moved away.

Kate took a deep breath as he spoke quietly with the tall woman that had entered. She held a staff with a yellow ball at the top and seemed extremely grouchy. All she heard was a "he _what_ " from the Grandmaster, and the two of them left, leaving her alone.

She shook her head and let out a shaky peal of laughter. "What is going on?" She muttered to herself.

Something moved in the corner of her eye. "Well, actually, the-"

"Oh fuck!" Heart racing, she turned to see it was the pile of rocks that was speaking. Hand to her heart, she tried to calm herself and work out where the face was.

The voice that came out was strangely accented and soft-spoken. "Ah, I'm sorry, was that a, uh, rhetociral question? Rhetorical question? You know, the question you don't answer? I didn't mean to make a bad first impression, man. The name's Korg. As you can see, I'm made of rocks. I may look tough but I have a soft heart. I like long walks on the beach, and-"

"Sorry, but… what are you doing here, Korg?"

"Well, I'm your nurse during your stay here." She chuckled disbelievingly. He lowered his head slightly. "I know I don't look like your average healthcare profession but I consider myself kind yet firm and I've been told I have a nice beside manner."

Kate smiled at him. "I didn't mean to be rude, it's just… I'm basically a prisoner on an alien planet, and a giant boulder is taking care of my broken hand. Wasn't really on my to-do list, that's all."

He nodded. "Your friend Thor told me to tell you that if you can get out of here, find the helicopter carrier. Heli copterer?"

"Uh, I don't know what that is. Where is he?"

"He's getting ready for the big fight." Korg emphasized this with a hand-in-fist gesture.

Kate processed this. "How do I get out, then?"

"Well, I've fixed your hand and given you some sick drugs, so you're probably fine to go. We can't actually leave the building, though. Personally, I found Thor's message a little misleading, implying that you can leave. You can't leave."

"Can I go to him then?"

"Sure!" Korg stood up; with a start, Kate realized he was close to eight feet tall. She got up, feeling smaller than ever, and followed him out the door.

 _Next chapter we FINALLY meet Valkyrie! Obviously this was not in the canon, and neither will a lot of the Valkyrie x Kate scenes, so I'll aim to put in as many canon scenes as I can throughout._


End file.
